


Here for You

by nirvainia



Category: TSFTM, The Strive For The Million, The Strive For The Million (Web Series)
Genre: Abandonment, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Crush, Implied Secret Crush, M/M, Sad with a Happy Ending, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:35:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nirvainia/pseuds/nirvainia
Summary: Wardrobe tries to wrap his mind around the argument between Cigarette and Hammer, deciding to approach Hammer to ask about his side of the story. He comforts Hammer through the abandonment and pain he’s facing.
Relationships: Hammer/Wardrobe, Hammer/Wardrobe (TSFTM), Hammer/Wardrobe (The Strive For The Million), Wardrobe/Hammer, Wardrobe/Hammer (TSFTM), Wardrobe/Hammer (The Strive For The Million)
Kudos: 2





	Here for You

It was heated in the Castle of Losers. And by heated, Wardrobe didn't mean that to signify the weather. He meant that things were... bitter, to say the least.

An indignant feeling loomed over the area. It was strange to think about how much of a blur it all happened in- and how much went wrong. The resentment and raging energy of the whole catastrophe was more than worrying as it lingered in Wardrobe's mind. It was a scribble of loud bickering. Agony. Distrust. All of it began with Shoe and Cigarette. Wardrobe felt painfully guilty to be invading on their conversation, but his curiosity desperately nagged at the back of his mind too hard. He attempted to collect as much information as possible with what they were saying. Shoe's backstory, his potion, his legs (which legitimately freaked the hell out of him)- there was nothing about the discussion that escaped his thoughts.

To be completely honest, Wardrobe felt as if the whole situation was... well, incredibly suspicious. Shoe was acting so... unusually nice. To be so considerate and polite, especially to his own nemesis? It rubbed him the wrong way. After all, Shoe had been disgusting in attitude for ages. His whole personality completely inverted without second thought. Even with listening to his story, it all seemed fabricated. Albeit, to say that Wardrobe didn't pity him was a false statement. Maybe Shoe really did want to change, after all? For the time being, he wasn't on either side. He didn't have any proof, nor was he on the same team as them during the competition. He had gotten eliminated so early, he was completely lost to the argument.

But when Cigarette mentioned Hammer... that's when things started to crumble. Shoe had handed Cigarette a note. Although he wasn't able to view the contents of the note, Cigarette's reaction definitely gave away enough for Wardrobe to tell that it was troubling. Something about a... traitor. He had actually heard about Hammer and Cigarette having a conversation about that a few weeks earlier. Hammer claimed that his team blamed him for their loss during a challenge about a slingshot, and that it was "sabotaged". Cigarette also mentioned a note similar to the one given to him by Shoe. But even that letter seemed to be oddly fake. Why would Hammer tell Shoe in the first place? Why would he trust him, out of all people? And even more shocking, why would Cigarette decide to believe Shoe? They had been enemies for so long, after all. Surely there would have been some trace of doubt in Cigarette's mind.

After he finished reading, he became furious. Wardrobe could tell Cigarette was in denial. They were such good friends! Hammer would never just manipulate him like that... right? But after a bit, he started to think it as real, and he stomped off to go yell at Hammer. Which is when it REALLY got ugly. When Hammer woke up and heard Cigarette spitting out his rage, he seemed so genuinely shocked. In that few seconds of anxiousness, Hammer's mood went from confused to outright angry. Wardrobe could also see where he was coming from on that side. Being woken up randomly in the middle of the night, immediately being greeted by fire of insults, even so far as getting accused for something he supposedly never did. By the only friend he had left, he was led to believe. If Hammer really wasn't the traitor at all (though he still had his suspicions), it wasn't fair to him.

The rest went as much as you'd expect. Hammer ended the conversation by ending their friendship and walking off angrily. Cigarette looked to be extremely upset. Wardrobe's heart dropped when that occurred. Hammer was now alone, and Cigarette had turned into Shoe's friend. And when Shoe asked him about the harsh intensity of the fight, Wardrobe felt incredibly anxious. At that point he had no idea who to trust, so he just replied with, "Yeah, I mean... isn't it bad enough we're all trapped in this small castle? I wish we could at least get along." It was crazy to think about how that all had only happened a few days ago. Cigarette and Shoe were asleep by now. Hammer hadn't uttered a word ever since, and he barely got any sleep either. Suddenly, Wardrobe felt an overwhelming urge. It was buried deep inside of him before, but now it had grown into something he couldn't contain. The more he thought about doing it, the higher he felt compelled to finally get up and figure out the truth.

He had to go talk to Hammer.

Nobody was taking the time to hear him out and take into account his side of the story. He had no chances to defend himself or explain anything. If Wardrobe really wanted to discover who to trust and who was in the wrong, he had to listen to Hammer and hear what he had to say. Wardrobe truly didn't want to believe that Hammer was a traitor, even if he didn't know what it was about. Shoe was behaving very fishy, and there were so many loose ends to the story. He didn't want to sit around any longer and wait for the whole ordeal to pass. He had to get involved and act fast, before it was too late.

Wardrobe got off the ground and approached Hammer. He was curled up in a ball with his head up, looking at the night sky. His eyes looked so sad and discomforted. Wardrobe didn't want to fall too hard just in case it really was an act, but his emotions seemed so authentic.

Hammer took notice of Wardrobe after a few seconds, and his eyes widened.

"...Wardrobe?" Hammer asked. A glint of hope in his eyes grew for a second, but dissolved all too quickly. "Oh. You must have came here to yell at me too." He glanced back down at the ground. "H-Huh? No! I just... came by to see how you were doing." Wardrobe sat on the floor of the bouncy house next to Hammer, who sat up and looked at him. His features softened, but he was still agitated. Ever since him and Cigarette broke off their friendship he hadn't been able to brush it off his mind. He resisted trusting anyone anymore. He felt as if no matter who he talked to, they would desert him.

"Wardrobe, I have to ask you something. And be honest, please." Hammer spoke up. Wardrobe had a feeling he knew exactly where this was going, but he nodded his head and asked what anyway.

"...Do you really think I'm the traitor?"

"Well... that's what I wanted to ask you about. What is it with this whole traitor thing? What's it about, and why are people blaming you?" Wardrobe asked. 

Hammer huffed. "That's a really long story. I'll start from the beginning. It all started during Episode 4. The contest was a 'Contestant Knock-Off', where one team had to launch their team members as ammo in a slingshot to try and knock the opposing teams members off of these beams. Trophy was the one launching people, but I asked her if I could have a try. I tried launching Ruler, but I missed and she got mad. Between the time she was yelling at me, somebody must have sabotaged the slingshot, because afterwards it was broken and Trophy realized there was a traitor who broke that slingshot."

"So what does that have to do with you?"

"Well, in the next episode I was talking to Trophy and Tulip about how we lost the challenge and about who the traitor was. Trophy started putting the blame on me because after I launched Ruler, that was the time someone sabotaged the slingshot. She also accused me of purposely launching Ruler under the platform because her height could've knocked everyone off. I tried to prove my innocence because at the time I wasn't even thinking about the slingshot, I was only thinking about aiming Ruler at someone. But of course, my naivety just had to put me under the spot even more. Then I got eliminated, and I told Cigarette about what happened. That's why you could hear him yelling at me and calling me a traitor. The one person I thought I could trust... he started blaming me for everything. I never said anything bad about him! Never! I've always respected Cigarette, and I told him I would always be there for him! He said he would always be there for me too, but now he hates me. He's with Shoe, his enemy. Or at least, he used to be his enemy. Everyone hates me... and... AND NOW I HAVE... I HAVE N-NOBODY!"

Hammer's words started to get more frantic. Tears started to stream down his eyes, and his body shook. "EVERYONE IS L-LEAVING ME! AND I N-N-NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG! N-NOBODY BELIEVES ME!" Hammer put his knees up and hurled his arms around them. He buried his face into his legs and started crying harder, sniffling. He could barely even get out a sentence. Wardrobe felt his heart sink, and he even started to get extremely teary as well. Those were pure emotions. No amount of faking could ever go that far. Shoe never got that intense when he was talking about his story. Hammer was in so much pain, and he didn't have anyone to turn to. He had to avoid revealing all his feelings and breaking through because everyone who had ever cared about him abandoned him. Wardrobe couldn't even imagine how broken he felt inside.

"H-Hammer! Hey, listen to me!" Wardrobe put his hands on Hammer's shoulders. Hammer lifted his head up- his face was red and flushed. He had never felt so dejected in his life. He slowly stared up into Wardrobe's eyes, looking for a sign of anger or disbelief. He saw none of that. Wardrobe stared back at him softly; like he actually cared. Ever since Cigarette and Hammer had left each other, Hammer thought that nobody would ever believe him. Nobody even listened to him at all, until Wardrobe came along and actually talked to him.

"Hammer.... I believe you." Wardrobe said calmly. Hammer faithfully widened his eyes, but then suddenly and shockingly pulled out of Wardrobe's grip. Thoughts whirred through his head, fuzzing up his mind. Wardrobe was confused. Did he do something wrong...?

"I... n-no... NO!"

Hammer yelled and shifted himself backwards, moving away from Wardrobe but remaining on the floor. He wanted to trust Wardrobe so bad, but his brain immediately responded. He was scared of being used again.

"Y-You don't believe me, and you don't care about me! Nobody does! You... you're just saying that to gain my trust so YOU can go and leave me behind! Because that's what EVERYONE has been doing, and my friends are all go-"

Hammer was cut short by Wardrobe pulling him into a tight hug. He lightly gasped under his breath. His arms still lingered outwards, but Wardrobe clutched his back tightly. "Hammer, please, listen to me. I've been here for longer than you have. I've seen Shoe doing sketchy things. I've heard him talk to Cigarette and say things about you. I don't trust him. I listened to your side of the story. I'm not going to pretend that I understand what you're going through, but there's one thing I do understand. You've been hurt. I want to help you. I wouldn't ever think of abandoning you." It was true. After thinking about the whole situation and analyzing everything, he believed Hammer more than anybody else. It was somewhat of a gut feeling- Wardrobe could sense how badly damaged Hammer's was. The glint of depressing feelings in his eyes, his cold body language, even the way he talked. He just couldn't take Shoe for granted, no matter how hard he tried to think of the ways Shoe could have been telling the truth.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you. I just... don't want to go through the same thing again." Hammer returned the hug, softly at first, but abruptly pulling farther into it. It felt... nice, being so close to somebody. He had never really been hugged before. At least, not like this. Something about it just made him feel so secure. Hammer was upset at himself for yelling at Wardrobe so aimlessly. It reminded him of Cigarette's behavior, and that just got him dispirited once again. What if he couldn't ever gain a friend again? What if Wardrobe was doing this as a one time thing, and he wouldn't ever talk to him or comfort him ever again? What if he just felt bad? At least, that's what he thought up until Wardrobe spoke once again.

"Hammer, do you... want to be friends with me?" He said, pulling out from the warm embrace. For the first time in a while, Hammer's eyes lit up hastily without backing down. "R-really?" He stuttered.

"Yeah! I mean," Wardrobe glanced away, blushing. "I've always thought you were pretty cool... And now with how you're feeling, I was thinking you could use some company." He fiddled with his hands, awaiting for the latter's response. With Wardrobe's comment about thinking he was pretty cool, Hammer's face heated up. Wardrobe was always lonely, just like Hammer was now. He only had about one friend he actually talked to quite a bit, which was Key, but other than that he didn't really have anyone either. It was sad to think about. Wardrobe could also use the company.

"O-oh, thanks! Yeah, we should definitely be friends. I think you're a really sweet guy. It'd be nice to have a friend like you." Hammer said with a gentle smile, his anger dissipating. Wardrobe's heart lifted. He had always felt a disconnection between him and most of the other contestants. Not that they had a disliking towards him, but... he didn't sense that any of them truly or particularly enjoyed his company.

"And we should also try and figure out what's going on with Shoe and Cigarette. They've been acting so... strange. We need to get to the bottom of it- if you wanted to help me." Hammer explained.

"Absolutely." Wardrobe and Hammer shook hands, setting their friendship and agreement in motion.

...

"So, you said that Shoe had been saying things about me, and that you've noticed him doing sketchy things..." Hammer began.

Wardrobe nodded.

"What have you seen?"

**Author's Note:**

> I really like how this came out, so I’d really appreciate kudos! ❤️
> 
> To answer if there’s going to be a part two, it depends on what happens in the later TSFTM episodes. We’ll just have to wait and see... 😉
> 
> Also, yes, I did make it so that it’s implied Wardrobe and Hammer have a hint of romantic feelings for each other. Gotta love shipping!


End file.
